Bowling pins and balls typically arrive in a pit area under considerable force and must be separated with the pins being fed to a pin distributer and spotter while the bowling balls are delivered to a ball return. For this reason, it is customary to provide a conveyor or travelling pit wide apron as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,401 to Zuercher et al. In such systems, a pit assembly includes a pit-wide belt or endless carpet which travels on a pair of parallel rollers. These rollers are transverse of the pit and mounted in a lower position thereof so that the top portion of the belt moves rearwardly and carries the fallen pins to the pin elevating mechanism. The mechanism, which is at the back of the pit, carries or lifts the pins upwardly to a pin distribution system for delivery to a pin spotter.
The apparatus normally found in a bowling alley pit includes a pair of wood bounce boards which are disposed immediately below the top portion of the belt and between the pair of rollers. The bounce boards support the top portion of the belt and are designed to withstand considerable forces. Bowling balls and pins frequently strike the belt in the area which is supported by the bounce boards which then absorb the impact. Nevertheless, these bounce boards are prone to breakage and are relatively difficult to replace. Also, in typical installations, the replacement of the bounce boards takes considerable time and may result in an alley being shut down during peak times.
In most of the modern bowling centers, the alleys are disposed in a side-by-side arrangement with each pair of alleys separated by a ball return mechanism such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,582 of Edwards, entitled "Bowling Ball Lifting Apparatus," which is assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. Such centers also typically incorporate pin elevating mechanisms at the rear of the pit assembly as well as a pin distribution system above the pit and an accompanying pin spotter above the pin deck. Consequently, there is very little room for making adjustments or repairs to the pit assembly. As a result, a pair of alleys may be taken out of service for a considerable time because of a broken bounce board.
In a typical alley, the bounce boards are of different size and are designed for a left or right side alley. For example, it is necessary to stock a forward and rear bounce board for the alley on the left and the same for the alley on the right. For this reason, it is necessary to have four spare bounce boards for the possible breakage of a single board.
It has now been found that a pit assembly and bounce board in accordance with the present invention facilitates repairs and replacement of pit assemblies and bounce boards, reduces the number of spare parts in inventory as well as the number of parts in a pit assembly. In addition, the pit assemblies and bounce boards disclosed herein offer a cost advantage since fewer parts are involved, have improved durability, minimal weight, are easy to install, universal and retrofittable to many if not most alleys.